The Pragmatic Marketer

There are a lot of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) providers out there that do a very good job of getting you clicks on Google (paid or organic), but very few of them think beyond the click, to focus on the conversion of B2B visitors into identifiable leads.

That’s why I recently launched FunnelBuilders - a consultancy that helps technology organizations develop post-click marketing strategies to generate inbound leads.

Because all these SEM providers are so click-centric, they seem to have skewed the expectation of many of the technology organizations I prospect. As a result I get a mixed bag of response to my prospecting calls:

Not Interested in Internet Marketing
These people cut me off pretty early on in the call and tell me they are “Not interested.” They say they’ve tried paid search before and it didn’t work for them, so they have focused their marketing efforts elsewhere. Now, I always check out a prospect’s online presence before calling them, to assess if they would be good candidate for smart inbound marketing programs and the majority are. It’s sad that these people are ready to brush me off so easily, because most of them could really benefit from a well thought out, well run internet marketing program.

They Think They Have it in Hand
Some people are actually doing something on the internet and think it’s going OK. “Thanks for your call but we’ve already engaged a web agency and they’re helping us with all that stuff.” Now, there are very few SEM vendors out there that really grasp the complexities of high value B2B technology lead generation, and even fewer that understand the many facets of post click marketing best practices. Most of them believe that if they can get you on the first page of Google and garner lots of click throughs to your web site, they think they’ve done their job. Sadly, they’ve managed to convince their clients to think this way too. The fact is, clicks without conversions really don’t amount to much of anything from a lead generation perspective.

They Know They Could be Doing Better
Thankfully, there are a number of organizations out there that know they should be leveraging the internet more for lead generation, but they don’t necessarily understand what to do or how to do it. So when I call in with my pitch about the value of post-click marketing and how it can positively impact their inbound lead generation activities, they are very receptive. They quickly grasp the compelling value that post click marketing can offer and typically ask me to swing by for a face meeting to find out more. 

In the current climate, with sales cycles getting longer and longer, generating qualified leads is more important than ever, and getting the best value you can out of those difficult to find marketing dollars is of paramount importance. For the majority of technology organizations this means focusing more time and effort on intelligently leveraging the Internet as a source of potential leads - and this is what Post-Click Marketing is all about.

If you are interested in finding out more, feel free to contact me. Or at the very least, challenge your current SEM provider to spend more time focused on creating conversions vs. just clicks.

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Sean O’Donovan is the owner of  FunnelBuilders, an internet marketing consultancy that helps technology organizations develop and implement intelligent post-click marketing programs to generate actionable in-bound sales leads  -    www.funnelbuilders.com

A few postings back, I recommended that companies think twice about severely reducing marketing spend and laying off some or all of their marketing department in the face of current economic uncertainties.

Unfortunately some companies had no choice in the matter and had to make some hard decisions concerning people. In these exceptional times, when even the experts are unable to agree on how long or how deep this recession is going to be, a judicious tightening of the purse strings seemed to make sense.

The problem is, hacking into your marketing budget creates both a short- and a long-term headache for your organization. Neither of which is desirable.

Short term it reduces, or even shuts down, the output of your lead generation machine. This leaves your sales team with fewer leads to work on, which in the current climate is exactly the reverse of what you want. Especially as sales cycles on existing opportunities are being stretched out further and further and further.

Longer term, once you decide to loosen the purse strings, there will be a significant lag time before you can begin to feed new leads to your sales team again. This is because the well thought-out and effective marketing programs that you recently chopped off at the knees took a good while to develop and implement, and a lot of hard effort to optimize. Getting back to the enviable position you were in before you made those budget cuts simply won’t happen overnight.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to kick-start the economy by convincing you to go into massive rehiring mode. I understand you can’t justify that. I just want to bring your attention to the fact that most worthwhile marketing programs don’t deliver instant gratification. So whether you believe things are going to recover later this year, or early next, you need to be thinking about breathing some life into your more critical marketing programs (like inbound lead generation) at least three months in advance of your expected recovery date. And, don’t worry. You can do this without going into rehiring mode, with all the baggage that’s involved. Just use contractors.

There’s an abundance of very competent marketing talent out there right now, only too willing to fill in for you until you reach a point where it makes sense to hire for full time positions again. Many of these marketers, like myself, offer a wealth of experience, talent and know-how that is available on tap, as and when you need it. And, so long as you use their services judiciously, you’ll spend way less than you did to keep one or more full time members of your marketing staff on the payroll.

An added bonus of course, is that you get to test drive a few different individuals that might just turn out to be good candidates for a full time role, as and when you are ready to move back into hiring mode again.

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Sean O’Donovan is the owner of FunnelBuilders, an internet marketing consultancy that helps technology organizations develop and implement post-click marketing strategies that generate actionable in-bound sales leads - www.funnelbuilders.com

This week I was planning on writing a post about business blogging but realised that the key messages I wanted to share have already been covered off in one of my wife’s recent blog-posts. So, I am taking the liberty of re-blogging “Five Reasons Why Your Business Should Blog”, giving Amanda full credit for this excellent post.

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OK, so I admit to being a bit of a born-again blogger. Now that I’m no longer a blog-virgin, I feel compelled to share my new-found enthusiasm for social media.

But what about you? Are you still struggling to work out how and why you should become a business blogger? The reasons are many, and they’re also compelling. With all due respect to attention spans, I’ve produced a condensed list of the most important reasons for you to blog. They may inspire you, but if they don’t, you could wake up tomorrow still hopelessly blogless. Perhaps you’re allergic to the writing process. Maybe you’re short on time. Either way, please seek professional help. There are plenty of great writers who can blog on your behalf.

Why Blog?

One - Your Competitors Are Doing It
Blogging has crossed the corporate divide. Many businesses in your market are already using blogs to communicate with their customers. And they’re listening when their customers talk back. A blog is an excellent way to establish two-way communication in a 2.0 world.

Two - You’ll Improve Your Search Ranking
Google likes to see changes in your website content, and it will reward you with higher rankings. When you write a blog that contains relevant business content, you’re disciplining yourself to create frequent content updates, and that makes you more attractive to the search engines.

On top of this, when people follow your blog, and link to your content or respond to your posts with comments, you’ll be attracting inbound traffic to your site, which is also good for your site ranking.

Three - You’ll Become A Thought Leader
When you create a blog that contains informative, ethical and entertaining content, you quickly establish yourself as an industry leader - and draw attention to your products and services. Writing a blog is also an excellent way of keeping up to date with all the latest trends in your industry.

Four - Your Network Will Grow
Think of your blog as a conversational hub, an opportunity to network with anyone who comes into contact with your business. It’s a way of keeping in regular contact with customers, suppliers, channel partners, industry associations and employees.

Five - You Can Test New Ideas
A blog is a great way of sounding out clients when you’re planning a new product, or you’re in the early stages of development. And, once you’ve launched a product, your blog can act as a forum for feedback, allowing you to correct faults and strengthen favourite features.

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Sean O’Donovan is the owner of FunnelBuilders, an internet marketing consultancy that helps technology organizations develop and implement intelligent internet marketing programs to generate actionable in-bound sales leads - www.funnelbuilders.com

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Amanda O’Donovan is a Toronto-based freelance business writer with a passion for her clients’ products and an obsession for detail, deadlines and common sense